Unique Student Identifier
The Unique Student Identifier (USI) scheme, enabled by the Student Identifiers Act 2014, allows learners to access a single online record of their VET achievements. The scheme also allows for reliable confirmation of these achievements by employers and other RTOs.
Unless exempt, SBI must only issue a qualification or statement of attainment to a learner after:
- The learner has provided SBI with a verified USI; or
- SBI has applied for a USI on the students’ behalf.
A USI gives you access to your online USI account, which is made up of ten numbers and letters. It will look something like this: 3AW88YH9U5.
A USI account will contain all your nationally recognised training records and results from 1 January 2015 onwards. Your results from 2015 will be available in your USI account in 2016. When applying for a job or enrolling in further study, you will often need to provide your training records and results. One of the main benefits of the USI is that you will have easy access to your training records and results throughout your life. You can access your USI account online from a computer, tablet or smart phone anywhere and anytime.
Do you need a USI?
You will need a USI when you enrol or re-enrol in training from 1 January 2015 if you are a:
- student enrolling in nationally recognised training for the first time, for example if you are studying at SBI, completing a diploma course; or
- school student completing nationally recognised training; or
- student continuing with nationally recognised training.
Once you create your USI you will need to give your USI to each training organisation you study with so your training outcomes can be linked and you will be able to:
- view and update your details in your USI account;
- give your training organisation permission to view and/or update your USI account;
- give your training organisation “view access” to your transcript;
- control access to your transcript; and
- view online and download your training records and results in the form of a transcript which will help you with job applications and enrolment in further training.
If you are an international student please visit usi.gov.au for more information.
As a part of the enrolment process, we have included on the Enrolment Agreement Form a section for the student to provide their USI. If you do not have a USI in place please refer to the below to find out how you can apply for a USI (a copy of the USI Fact Sheet is also accessible at SBI’s head office, please contact Student Support): http://usi.gov.au/Training-Organisations/Documents/FactSheet-RTO-Student-Information-for-the-USI.pdf
Alternatively, SBI can apply for a USI on a student’s behalf by providing the following forms of ID to SBI:
- Driver’s Licence
- Medicare Card
- Australian Passport
- Visa (with Non-Australian Passport) for international students
- Birth Certificate (Australian)
- Certificate of Registration by Descent
- Citizenship Certificate
- Immi Card (international students)
Enrolment Process for USI
All prospective students are to complete an Application Form, which includes a section for the student to provide their USI. SBI will verify the USI supplied by the student.
Completed application forms are entered into the Student Management Database (Wisenet) creating a student record within the database. The student record will be retained within the Student Management System (Wisenet) with all records of attainments in an accessible format for a period of thirty (30) years. Where a qualification or statement of attainment is recorded in the USI scheme, no additional records are required to be kept, as the records required will exist within the USI scheme.